Grindstone/Microsoft Accelerator Program

Business accelerator Grindstone has partnered with software giant Microsoft to launch Grindstone Africa, a startup accelerator program, to boost digital innovation across Africa.

The inaugural Grindstone Africa program will see 10 scaleup companies participate in highly-concentrated, bespoke interventions based on business needs, with a focus on those companies that are building towards a favorable liquidity event.

The four-month program will see interventions in product development, technology optimization, customer acquisition and preparing for further fundraising.

Eligibility criteria

Grindstone Africa is open for applications for the first intake and is looking for the best African technology scale-ups to apply. These are the main qualities we require from companies applying:

• Post-revenue with customer traction.
• A dynamic team of awesome people.
• Innovative technology business with a clear competitive differentiator.
• Scalable business model.
• At least $50k turnover per annum and scaling rapidly.
• At least five resources working in the business.
• Advantageous to have had a first funding round.
• Willingness to participate in a four-month growth engineering process, focusing on strategy, sales, marketing, GTM, and tech optimization.
• Microsoft is our technology partner for this program, and regardless of your existing stack, a detailed tech review will enable optimization for your business.